International Convention against Doping in Sport
UNESCO’s International Convention against Doping in Sport (2005) harmonizes anti-doping legislation, regulations and rules internationally to ensure a level playing field.
The Convention is the only international treaty in this domain and provides the legal framework under which governments can address specific areas of the World Anti-Doping Code.
It helps protect public health and to safeguard the ethics, integrity and universal values of sport through harmonized standards and policies
See also: Full text of the Convention
Conference of Parties (COP)
Over 190 States have ratified the Convention, becoming Parties to this Treaty, committing themselves to: protect athletes and sport values; limit the availability of prohibited substances and methods; support the implementation of anti-doping education programmes; and promote anti-doping research.
The Conference of Parties (COP), gathering all States Parties, is the sovereign governing body of the Convention with overall responsibility for its implementation.
Fund for the Elimination of Doping in Sport
UNESCO supports public authorities in the design and implementation of anti-doping awareness-raising, education, policy advice and capacity building. Since 2008, the Anti-Doping Fund has invested over USD 5 million for over 200 projects in more than 120 countries.
Investing in the Fund is a sign of commitment to protecting sport values, ethics and integrity so that no State Party is left behind.
Values Education through Sport
Values Education through Sport (VETS) programmes support active learning, complement cognitive skills and give students increasing amounts of responsibility, and enhance their level of concentration and participation.
VETS programmes are flexible and have a strong cross-curricular potential: they can reinforce existing curricula and can be streamed across different subjects, including physical education, civic and moral education, nutrition, biology, arts.
How we tackle doping in sport
Enhancing domestic coordination
Established 144 National Compliance Platforms. National Compliance Platforms, comprising all relevant national stakeholders, are a key mechanism to ensure domestic coordination of anti-doping efforts, as well as the provision of inclusive, coherent, accurate data collection.
Increasing awareness, education and prevention
Awareness raising and education are fundamental to protecting sport values, ethics and integrity. Using a wide array of tools — including e-learning, mobile applications, social media campaigns and training —, the Fund enables States Parties to inform and educate athletes, athlete support personnel, parents and youth to prevent doping practices, and physical and mental harm.
Designing and implementing sound public policies
The Fund for the Elimination of Doping in Sport supports governments to develop or review legal instruments, in line with international standards. Sound policies improve compliance with the Convention’s provisions and contribute to fulfilling national anti-doping requirements.
Strengthening national capacities
Capacity-building activities are performed by States Parties with the support of the Fund to empower and enhance the performance of national stakeholders, notably Anti-Doping Organizations. Trainings, peer-to-peer cooperation and informationsharing with other States Parties, including at the regional level, are leveraged for the purpose.
Annexes: Prohibited List / Standards for Granting Therapeutic Use Exemptions
Two documents developed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) are integral parts of the UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport: the Prohibited List and the Standards for Granting Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUE Standard). They are fundamental to international anti-doping efforts.
There is a mechanism in the Convention, as outlined in Article 34, which allows signatory governments (States Parties) to approve and adopt any changes made to the Prohibited List or the TUE Standard by WADA. Unless two-thirds of the States Parties object, the proposed amendments are incorporated into the Convention.
Each year WADA prepares a comprehensive list of prohibited substances and methods. This Prohibited List is continually evolving as new substances and methods are uncovered and scientific knowledge of the effects of the various substances advance.
Annex II: Standards for Granting Therapeutic Use Exemptions
The TUE Standard outlines the means by which athletes can use medicines on the Prohibited List to treat legitimate medical conditions. Athletes, like everyone else, may suffer from illnesses that require them to take particular medications. Provided that the need for medication is genuine, and subject to specific criteria, the use of medications should not impact on the ability of athletes to participate in their sport. Athletes that have obtained a TUE will not be considered to have committed an anti-doping rule violation should a positive test for the approved medication result, as long as the conditions of the TUE were fully met.
Monitoring of the Convention
Operational Guidelines and Framework for the strengthening of the implementation of the Convention
The Operational Guidelines and Framework for the strengthening of the implementation of the International Convention against Doping in Sport, approved by the eighth session of the Conference of Parties to the Convention (COP8, 26-28 October 2022) through Resolution 8CP/10, provide States Parties with guidelines on how to implement the provisions of the Convention and strengthen compliance with the Convention.
ADLogic
As required by Article 31 of the Convention, States Parties submit every two years, to the Conference of Parties, a national report concerning measures taken by them for the purpose of complying with the Convention.
The monitoring tool of the Anti-Doping Convention is the online self-assessment Anti-Doping Logic (ADLogic) questionnaire. Compliance with the Convention is measured through 21 principal questions of the ADLogic questionnaire, covering the four thematic areas of the Convention:
- National activities to strengthen Anti-Doping (Articles 7-12)
- International cooperation (Articles 13-14 and 16)
- Education and training (Articles 19-23)
- Research (Articles 24-27)
The national report is generated automatically by the ADLogic system on the basis of responses provided by the State Party. Each State Party can access the ADLogic system through a unique alphanumeric password transmitted to the competent public authorities every two years.
National Reports
- Reports of States Parties submitted to the seventh session of the Conference of Parties (COP7 – 2019)
- Reports of States Parties submitted to the sixth session of the Conference of Parties (COP6 – 2017)
- Reports of States Parties submitted to the fifth session of the Conference of Parties (COP5 – 2015)
- Reports of States Parties submitted to the fourth session of the Conference of Parties (COP4 – 2013)
- Reports of States Parties submitted to the third session of the Conference of Parties (COP3 – 2011)
- Reports of States Parties submitted to the second session of the Conference of Parties (COP2 – 2009)
Focal Points and Compliance Platforms
States Parties are invited to designate national focal points to facilitate the flow of information and knowledge-sharing.
In addition, States Parties are encouraged to establish National Compliance Platforms to ensure a consolidated approach in collecting data and a harmonized, accurate and inclusive reporting of all measures taken at the national level.
A National Compliance Platform should be composed of all national stakeholders involved in the fight against doping in sport (i.e. ministries, national anti-doping organizations, customs, medical and pharmaceutical sectors, sports community, athlete’s representatives and athletes support personnel representatives, etc.). To date, more than 90 National Compliance Platforms have been created and over a hundred National Focal Points have been designated.
Partners
In addition to the States Parties to the Anti-Doping Convention, UNESCO works with a wide range of partners, from intergovernmental organizations to universities and the sport movement.
Main partners
UNESCO Chair on Doping Studies and Analysis of Anti-Doping Policies
The first UNESCO Chair on anti-doping, hosted by the Paris Nanterre University in France, was created in April 2017. The Chair provides expertise and social science knowledge to various actors, notably public authorities.
French Tennis Federation
In October 2019, on the occasion of the Rolex Paris Masters, UNESCO and the French Tennis Federation (FFT) signed a partnership agreement promoting values education through sport within the framework of the International Convention against Doping in Sport.
This partnership, aimed at promoting the ethical dimension of sport, as well as gender equality and the social inclusion of youth, is focused on four areas of cooperation: the promotion of ethical values in and through sport, in particular the fight against doping; the promotion of tennis as a vector of gender equality; strengthening access to heritage and cultural and linguistic diversity through tennis; the promotion of tennis as a tool for dialogue, social inclusion and resilience.
International Testing Agency
UNESCO and the International Testing Agency (ITA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding during the seventh session of the Conference of Parties (COP7) to the Anti-Doping Convention in 2019.
The partnership focuses on education and prevention; facilitation of anti-doping controls and international cooperation in this field; and promotion of research on anti-doping.
World Anti-Doping Agency
UNESCO and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) are leading partners in the fight against doping in sport at the international level. Key areas of cooperation include amendments to the annexes of the Convention, monitoring, and technical support.
The Anti-Doping Convention provides the legal framework within which all governments can take action in the fight against doping in sport. The Convention also provides support for the World Anti-Doping Code and other international standards developed by WADA, recognizing the importance of these documents in harmonizing policy and practice worldwide.
The Prohibited List (Annex I) and the Standards for Granting Therapeutic Use Exemptions (Annex II) are integral parts of the Convention. Prepared by WADA, both documents are fundamental to international harmonization.
Contact
Marcellin Dally
Executive Secretary of the Anti-Doping Convention
antidopingteam@unesco.org